tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21242631483360756462024-02-20T07:23:55.301-06:00Becoming the Waki FamilyI started this blog before facebook as a way to comment on friends' blogs and over the years I've used it for different purposes. To share my reading list, to muse, but now, after 8 years as a single mom to most incredible boy, I've remarried and I thought I'd share our story of becoming the "Waki Family."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-38031671897889056592014-02-04T07:30:00.002-06:002014-02-04T07:30:54.903-06:00"The Beautiful Mystery" Louise Penny"What pleasure there must be, Beaviour thought, in doing the same thing over and over. In the past the very idea had revolted him. Routine, repetition. It was death, or at least deadly dull. To lead a predictable life.
But now Beavious wasn't so sure...All he longed to do was sit down with Annie and share the Saturday papers. To do what they did every weekend.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-23126151960351496302014-01-26T20:28:00.005-06:002014-01-26T20:28:47.254-06:00"Hollow City" Ransom RiggsA good story, but no quotesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-2189550868216859352014-01-26T20:28:00.001-06:002014-01-26T20:28:10.836-06:00"The Affairs of Others" Amy Grace LoydDidn't really care for this book-- no quotes evenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-11929627318011834312014-01-18T10:21:00.002-06:002014-01-18T10:22:25.882-06:00"A Trick of the Light" Louise Penny"'She sounds like an emotional vampire,' said Myrna, at last.'
'A what?'
'I ran into quite a few in my practice. People who sucked others dry. We all know them. We're in their company and we come away drained, for no apparent reason...I saw it with my clients who'd been abused either physically or emotionally. The relationship never starts with a fist to the face or an Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-56865034124348131452014-01-18T10:15:00.002-06:002014-01-18T10:15:33.569-06:00"Miss Pergrine's Home for Peculiar Children" Ransom Riggs"I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but life never was ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home would be something I would miss. Yet as we stood loading our boats in the breaking dawn, on a brand new precipice of Before & After, I thought of everything I was about to leave behind...and I realized Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-28328096258617178822014-01-18T10:10:00.003-06:002014-01-18T10:10:57.338-06:00"I'll Be Seeing You" Suzanne Hayes & Loretta Nyhan"Glory if you intend to speak before sensible women and expect to give power to your words, you must be as free of moral ambiguity as you can. I'm not a big believer in fire and brimstone, but I do think a certain purity of heart and intention is necessary when we expect to be heard. We often realize too late that passion only lasts when it is married to truth...But for a marriage to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-12137582651436234702014-01-18T10:05:00.001-06:002014-01-18T10:05:25.086-06:00"Mary Coin" Marisa SilverThis is a story that has stayed with me. One in which I keep thinking about the characters, even weeks after I finished reading it.
"'You're missing your future, boy,' George pronounced when Walker was eighteen and told his father he wanted no part of farming but that he preferred to study history. 'History?' George said, his mouth twisting into an expression of disbelief.
'Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-45736761370673910762013-12-28T11:37:00.003-06:002013-12-28T11:37:33.785-06:00BooksBy my record keeping, I've read about 3 books per month in 2013. This does not include the hours & hours I've spent reading Harry Potter & Percy Jackson books to the boy. We finished all 5 Jackson books and really loved them. I've been in a reading rut the past few months-- I even have piles of unread New Yorkers laying around. Here's to going new places in 2014!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-81623091565024152502013-12-28T11:18:00.001-06:002013-12-28T11:18:31.056-06:00"Transatlantic" Colum McCann
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-16584711590810850992013-11-07T21:09:00.000-06:002013-11-07T21:09:54.723-06:00"Sun Storm" Asa Larsson"I really haven't got anything to complain about, she thinks, turning to someone out there in the universe. A wonderful family and a good life. I've already had more that anyone has a right to ask for. "Thank you," she says out loud."
(I'm attempting to read all of Larsson's books; there will be several more posts.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-20588055188549190992013-10-24T07:48:00.003-05:002013-10-24T07:53:50.132-05:00"Until Thy Wrath Be Past" Asa Larsson"He tried to convince himself that love is about giving, not taking. It should be okay to simply be a giver. To love without expecting anything in return. But he finds that difficult. He wants her. He wants her for himself. 'I think I love her,' he says to Tintin. 'How the hell did that happen?'"
I've discovered that I'm on a Scandinavian Kick, and Asa LarssonUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-42908811495489342392013-10-24T07:45:00.003-05:002013-10-24T07:54:04.917-05:00"Blackwater" Kerstin Ekman"He decided to ask some people to dinner because he realized he was drifting into something he would have jokingly diagnosed as paranoia in anyone else."
"He himself could not have borne to see Annie. But he had to. And, he thought to himself afterward, 'bear' is an empty word. Just a kind of exclamation. You bear it. You put two fingers on what has happened and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-61708586271902035512013-10-07T08:37:00.002-05:002013-10-24T07:54:18.689-05:00"Say Nice Things About Detroit" Scott Lasser" "Look," he said, "I've got a white family, and I've got a black family, so I can tell you this: black people are pretty much like white people, except for one thing- black people got to deal with white people. And that changes you." "Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-60778043692085767752013-10-03T16:05:00.001-05:002013-10-24T07:50:41.722-05:00"The Interestings" By Meg Wolitzer“Part of the beauty of love was that you didn’t need to explain it to anyone else. You could refuse to explain. With love, apparently you didn’t necessarily feel the need to explain anything at all.”
-Had to quickly return this book to the library, but really enjoyed it. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-87098190071239959452013-09-16T07:08:00.001-05:002013-10-24T07:54:45.933-05:00"A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" By Anthony Marra
""You're here," Sonja said, surprised. "Yes," Havaa agreed. "I'm here. This is the waiting room." Sonja glanced down to the floor, to the chairs, puzzling over this and then nodding. "You're right. This is the waiting room," she said, and sat in the folding chair beside Havaa.""Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-21095586854025183342013-09-06T14:24:00.004-05:002013-10-24T07:55:01.133-05:00"We Need New Names" NoViolet Bulawayo"Come, Ethiopia, move, move, move; Israel, Kazakhstan, Niger, brothers, let's go! The others spoke languages, worshiped different gods, ate what we would not dare touch. But like us, they had left their homelands behind. They flipped open their wallets to show us faded photographs of mothers whose faces bore the same creases of worry as our very own mothers, siblings bleak-eyed Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-80965722357529086322013-08-30T11:36:00.001-05:002013-10-24T07:55:13.554-05:00"The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells" Andrew Sean GreerQuick read, no dog-ear quotesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-73151293545511991812013-08-30T11:34:00.001-05:002013-08-30T11:34:59.247-05:00"Good Kids" Benjamin Nugent"Only now did I realize that I had probably been looking as tense as she did. The words, 'I'm Republican' had triggered a fight-or-flight instinct. The knowledge that somebody who was even sort of a Republican might kiss me was enchanting and noxious at the same time, cocaine-like."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-47241125523901128192013-08-13T10:28:00.003-05:002013-08-13T10:28:46.449-05:00"Elders" Ryan McIlvain""Seth, there's nothing special about doubting. Some of my colleagues at the office are devout atheists...they go on and on about the 'courage to question.' But do you know what I think? I think the real courage is in trying to believe. Doubt comes easy for a lot of people. It comes easy for people like you and me, Seth. But do you know what doesn't come easy?&Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-74624853458535450082013-08-13T10:24:00.003-05:002013-08-13T10:24:48.559-05:00For the Boy"There is a mystery surrounding this man who is so central to my life in so many ways, but who I'll never know." (Maybe from a New Yorker article??)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-16347206319649405332013-08-09T07:40:00.004-05:002013-08-09T07:40:57.896-05:00"The Middlesteins" Jami Attenberg"And finally, she doesn't always love being a stay-at home mom, but the other option, dealing with bosses and responsibilities and meetings in poorly lit rooms and office politics and all that other crap that Benny goes through on a daily basis, sounds so appalling that she will gladly gush, "This is what I was born to do," to anyone who might ask...even if she suspects there might have Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-64139566554989764002013-07-30T08:50:00.001-05:002013-07-30T08:51:44.581-05:00"This is Life" Dan RhodesJust now realized that this was written by a man-- surprising! This is a happy, feel-good, suspended from reality story that I enjoyed.
"She loved that place, and had never felt claustrophobic...now she was glad to have somewhere she could keep to herself, uninterrupted by the drama of the shared living space. She loved never having to justify her movements or her lack of movements Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-45611234266025412122013-07-30T08:47:00.003-05:002013-07-30T08:51:33.592-05:00"Prayers for Rain" Dennis LehaneA few weeks ago, I was in Chicago and had an afternoon all to myself. This resulted in a visit to CBO, a few other shops, and of course the bookstore, where I picked up this book. I hadn't read any of Lehane's books, but while this was violent & bit unbelievable, I still enjoyed it. This passage is for the man who's love of Mustangs, I don't understand, but appreciate a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-43573871152990467962013-07-16T07:56:00.004-05:002013-07-16T07:57:38.961-05:00"The Liar's Gospel" Naomi AldermanMust like reading the Bible, I got about halfway through, decided it was a silly story and put it down.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2124263148336075646.post-38685698664269780022013-07-16T07:55:00.000-05:002013-07-16T07:55:12.625-05:00"The House at the End of Hope Street" Menna van Praag"When she'd walked into the house, long after midnight, she'd felt the presence of Blake, so sharp and strong that it had driven her straight to her clothes. Now he won't leave her: his smile, his touch, his unreachable heart."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0